Bharti Airtel hits overseas bond mkt, to raise USD 500 m

Telecom major Bharti Airtel today hit the overseas bond market to raise a minimum of USD 500 million, said merchant banking sources who are advising on the sale.

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Bharti Airtel hits overseas bond mkt, to raise USD 500 m

Telecom major Bharti Airtel today hit the overseas bond market to raise a minimum of USD 500 million, said merchant banking sources who are advising on the sale.

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Telecom major Bharti Airtel today hit the overseas bond market to raise a minimum of USD 500 million, said merchant banking sources who are advising on the sale.

"The bond sale programme, which is going to be a benchmark size, is carried out by the company's foreign arm Bharti Airtel International Netherlands. The company has given an initial pricing guidance of 5.5 percent. The final coupon and size will be fixed later today," a merchant banker working on the issue said.

Last Monday, Bharti had launched roadshows in Asia, Europe and the US and had picked seven foreign banks for this unsecured senior bond issue, or RegS bonds, which can be issued to non-US residents and qualified institutional buyers with lesser protection clauses.

A benchmark-sized bond means raising atleast USD 500 million and benchmark bonds are those which provide a standard against which the performance of other bonds can be measured.

On February 1, Bharti Enterprises Group, (holding company of Bharti Airtel) Chief Financial Officer Sarvjit Dhillon had said the company was planning to raise up to USD 1 billion before the end of the fiscal.

In June 2011, Bharti had reportedly met investors but ultimately did not go through with the bond offering.

If the Bharti issue mops up at least USD 500 million, the company will be the second largest private sector borrower to tap the global bond markets this year after Reliance Industries ' USD 800 million perpetual bond in late January.

As of the December quarter, Bharti had total debt of USD 13.6 billion and cash and equivalents of USD 1.9 billion.

As many as 91 percent of the total debt are on floating rate, thus increasing the cost of servicing them. But out of the total debt, only about 19 percent is secured and about 63 percent of is marked in US dollars.

Regulation S bonds or RegS bonds are those offered to non-US residents and qualified institutional buyers (under an exception to US securities laws enacted in 1990) and do not enjoy the same legal protection as other issues enjoy.

Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading integrated telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G services, fixed line, high speed broadband through DSL, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G mobile services.

Bharti Airtel stock price

On July 31, 2015, Bharti Airtel closed at Rs 418.70, up Rs 2.10, or 0.50 percent. The 52-week high of the share was Rs 452.45 and the 52-week low was Rs 336.85.

The company's trailing 12-month (TTM) EPS was at Rs 33.02 per share as per the quarter ended March 2015. The stock's price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio was 12.68. The latest book value of the company is Rs 199.95 per share. At current value, the price-to-book value of the company is 2.09.